Battle of Quiévrain (1792)

The Battle of Quiévrain was a pair of skirmishes between the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of France in late April 1792 during the War of the First Coalition.

Battle of Quiévrain (1792)
Part of the War of the First Coalition

1834 painting of general Biron.
Date28 and 30 April 1792
Location
Quiévrain, Belgium
Result

1st Battle: French Victory

2nd Battle: Austrian Victory
Belligerents
Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI Kingdom of France Habsburg monarchy Austria
Commanders and leaders
Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI Armand-Louis de Gontaut Biron
Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI Auguste Marie Henri Picot de Dampierre
Habsburg monarchy Johann Peter Beaulieu
Strength
15,000[1]

On 28 April, there was a minor skirmish at Quiévrain, just across the Franco-Belgian border, resulting in a victory for the French army under the command of general Armand-Louis de Gontaut Biron. However, although Biron advanced and planned to take the city of Mons and eventually Brussels, he judged his forces were not strong enough and decided to retreat. On 30 April, as his troops were passing by Quiévrain again, a false alarm of an Austrian attack caused the soldiers to panic, and they fled back to Valenciennes in a disorderly fashion. His ally Théobald Dillon, who served with Biron under marshal Rochambeau during this invasion, suffered an even worse fate during the battle of Marquain (29 April), some 35 kilometres to the northeast.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ Connelly, Owen (2012). The Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon, 1792-1815. London: Routledge. p. 23. ISBN 9781134552894. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  2. ^ Gallaher, John G. (1997). General Alexandre Dumas: Soldier of the French Revolution. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 18. ISBN 9780809320981. Retrieved 29 July 2018.